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[Sheltiemama]

I have a challenging situation for all of you to consider and give me your best advise for. My sweet little girl Brandi does not like or play with toys. She doesn't even like to have them in her mouth. In fact she doesn't like to take treats from my hand but prefers that I put them in her dish or on the floor for her to get herself.



I have tried to work with her by playing on the floor with her and her toys. Putting them in my own mouth and shaking my head and panting excitedly (wonderful mental picture here) and she just looks at me as though I'm nuts and walks away from me to go lay down.



I want to teach her to play with toys or at least interact with me and the toys. We even used pnut butter on them but she licks them a little and walks off...........



I sure could use some help with this one.



Thanks

[Cassiepeia]

I can't really help you but I wanted to mention that my little guy, even when I first adopted him (he was around 5yrs old then), has never liked playing with toys.
I think perhaps some dogs just don't like it. Or maybe you need to find some different kinds of toys...some not so conventional. Some dogs like bubble machines or garden sprinklers etc...maybe she'd have fun with those, or something similar?

Does she play with you without toys?

Cass.

[Sugardog]

Hmmm, I have a potential idea that may or may not work. It can never hurt to try.

Get a piece of irrestable food like some cooked chicken and put it on the floor and let her pick it up. Now put another one down and have your hand a few inches away from it. If she doesn't take it when your hand is 3 inches away, move it further back to 4 or 5, however far she is comfortable with. Then each time, move your hand closer and closer to the treat until she is taking is taking it off the floor and it's right inbetween your fingers. Then put it on top of your closed fingers, while your hand is still on the floor is still on the floor. It wouuld probably be best to do this exercise with your palm up. Then just gradually move your hand off the floor and you can start offering treats that are being held between your thumb and index finger like you would normally give a dog a treat. And be sure to praise her each time she takes the treat as your working with her.

As for toys, not all dogs like toys. My whippet/miniature pinscher mix doesn't care much for toys at all. She never plays with them, never even picks them up. So while you may be doing your best to get her to play with toys, you may end up just having to accept that she isn't a dog that will use toys.

Find other activities that she likes to do. Like Cassiepeia said, try bubbles, water etc. Angie loves to run, so I'll take her out to run. There's plenty of other ways that you and your dog can interact. How about agility?